Last weekend, Caltrans extended the hours Highway 74 was available to motorists, even with a pilot car escort between Valle Vista and Mountain Center. However, the discouraging news is that Highway 74’s use may continue as currently permitted for at least two more months. And the opening of Highway 243 is currently unknown. Caltrans has…

John Sturkie missing since early January A 55-year-old husband and father of four, John Sturkie, has been missing since Jan. 5. His remains appear to have been found. On Monday evening, the Riverside Sheriff’s Department reported, “… human remains believed to be Sturkie’s, pending positive identification by the Coroner’s Bureau, were located and recovered by…

Three collisions occurred on highways 74 and 243 over the last week and a half, according to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Matt Napier.On March 28 at 8:40 a.m., James Robert Phillips, 72 of Hemet, was driving his silver 1999 Honda Accord southbound on Highway 243 north of Saunders Meadow Road at approximately 30…

The last week’s Idyllwild Water District (IWD) Board of Directors meeting, both General Manager Leo Havener and Chief Financial Officer Hosny Shouman told the board that a glitch in a software program resulted in the district losing about 20% of data while transferring from the old meter to the new meter system. The lost data…